Drought Exposes Dinosaur Tracks in Texas, Near Dino State Park
As the United States experiences the worst drought in over 1,000 years, evaporating waters have exposed dinosaur tracks previously hidden.
According to Smithsonian Magazine, the US is experiencing its most severe drought since 800 C.E., and receding waters are exposing many things that had been hidden, sometimes for thousands of years.
From sunken boats to human remains, the drought's effect on Lake Mead, for instance, has exposed a lot over the past year.
According to NPR, in 4 months, just as many bodies have been exposed by the evaporating/receding waters in Lake Mead, Nevada, the country's largest reservoir. A New Orleans-built Higgins Boat, a WWII-era landing craft, was also recently exposed by receding waters at Lake Mead.
And now: dinosaur tracks.
Not at Lake Mead, but farther east from Nevada - Glen Rose, Texas.
Texas, too, has been affected by the historic drought. Water levels in some landlocked bodies of water have been receding, exposing things that had long been covered up.
Dinosaur Valley State Park, run by Texas Parks and Wildlife, is a National Natural Landmark, as designated by the National Park Service. It became a destination for archeologists and dinosaur enthusiasts for many years after a 9-year-old boy discovered strange tracks preserved in mud way back in 1908.
After a huge flood devastated the valley, washing out bridges and culverts and sediment, clues to the past were uncovered.
The tracks that the young boy discovered after the flood were those of a theropod, a family of 3-toed dinosaurs that include one of the most famous, the T-Rex.
ABC News is reporting that the current drought has exposed dinosaur tracks that were preserved long ago by the Paluxy River, dating back some 113 million years.
A superintendent at the park told ABC News that the tracks recently discovered are those of an Acrocanthosaurus, and that the tracks are probably the longest set ever discovered in North America.
A fierce-looking creature, no?
The tracks, experts say, may not be exposed for long, as a good rain may be enough to get the river levels high enough to cover them again.
Dinosaur Valley State Park seems like a great weekend trip for a kid (of any age) fascinated with dinosaurs.
Ironically enough, less than a mile and a half outside the gates of Dinosaur Valley State Park, sits the Creation Evidence Museum. It could be a great twofer trip!
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